In JP 2006-167191 A (Patent Document 1), there is disclosed a sliding fastener which can make the element rows rigid at the time of coupling as described above.
A sliding fastener 61 disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes, as illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17, left and right fastener stringers 62 to which a number of fastener elements 70 are adhered along corresponding tape side edges of a pair of left and right fastener tapes 63. The fastener elements 70 are made of a thermoplastic synthetic resin material, and are integrated with the fastener tapes 63 through the injection molding of the synthetic resin material on the fastener tape 63.
Each fastener element 70 includes an element body 71 which is integrally adhered to the fastener tape 63, and a bump section 72 which is a rectangular plate shape integrally formed in the front and back surfaces of the element body 71. In addition, the element body 71 includes a base 71a which is fixed to the fastener tape 63, a neck portion 71b which is continuously connected to the base 71a and protrudes outward from the side edge of the fastener tape 63, and a coupling head 71c which further protrudes outward from the neck portion 71b. The element body is configured such that the coupling head 71c of the corresponding element body 71 to be coupled is coupled between the neck portions 71b of the adjacent element bodies 71 when the left and right fastener elements 70 are coupled.
In addition, a rectangular bump portion 72 disposed in each fastener element 70 has the same shape and the same dimension. The position of the end surface at one end of each rectangular bump portion 72 in the tape length direction is disposed at a position slightly shifted to the outside from an expanding end position on the coupling head 71c of the element body 71, and the position of the other end of each rectangular bump portion 72 in the tape length direction is disposed at a position where the neck portion 71b of the element body 71 becomes narrowest. In this case, the both end surfaces of the rectangular bump portion 72 in the tape length direction become first close-contact planes at a time when the fastener elements 70 are coupled.
Furthermore, a recess portion 71d is formed between the front and back rectangular bump portions 72, into which the coupling head 71c of the corresponding fastener element 70 to be coupled is fitted. With this configuration, when the left and right fastener elements 70 are coupled, the coupling head 71c of the element body 71 is fitted into the corresponding recess portion 71d to be coupled, and a portion of the coupling head 71c and the neck portion 71b of the element body 71 is interposed and comes in close contact between the facing inner surfaces which are disposed on the front and back sides of the corresponding rectangular bump portions 72 to be coupled. In this case, the facing inner surfaces of the rectangular bump portion 72 on the front side and the rectangular bump portion 72 on the back side become second close-contact planes.
In the sliding fastener 61 with the above-mentioned configurations of Patent Document 1, when the left and right fastener elements 70 are coupled, the first close-contact planes (both end surfaces in the tape length direction) of the rectangular bump portions 72 of the left and right fastener elements 70 come in close contact with each other. In addition, in each fastener element 70, the second close-contact planes (facing inner surfaces) of a pair of the rectangular bump portions 72 come in close contact with the element body 71 to interpose the corresponding element body 71 to be coupled.
With this configuration, each fastener element 70 regulates the movement of the fastener elements 70 with respect to one another, and the fastener elements 70 are disabled from being rotated in a direction along the tape plane and in a direction perpendicular to the tape plane. As a result, it is possible to make the element rows of the sliding fastener 61 rigid in a line.
Since the sliding fastener 61 of Patent Document 1 is made rigid when the fastener elements 70 are coupled as described above, the sliding fastener can serve as a reinforcing material for making various kinds of products stable in shape by the rigidity. On the other hand, the fastener elements 70 are released from the rigidity when separated, and thus the sliding fastener 61 can be easily modified in shape together with the modification in shape of various kinds of products. Therefore, through the separation of the fastener elements 70, the sliding fastener 61 can be folded.
Accordingly, the sliding fastener 61 can serve as a member for connecting sheet materials when a tent is set up, for example, by being attached to edge portions of the sheet materials constituting the tent, and also as a reinforcing core material of the tent, so that it is possible to widely use the sliding fastener 61 in new applications.